U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle Wednesday denied a motion by Chris Kyle’s widow to dismiss the suit.

Ventura alleges Chris Kyle defamed him in his best-selling book. In it, the former Navy SEAL claimed he punched someone named “Scruff Face,” whom he later identified as Ventura, in a 2006 bar fight. Ventura says the fight never happened.

The judge wrote Ventura has offered enough evidence that a jury could conclude Chris Kyle’s statements were “materially false.”